JPS61222458A - Inhalator, water storage tank used therein and formation of heated humidified air stream for inhalator - Google Patents

Abstract

An inhaler device which includes a wick (76) which draws water from a reservoir and which is in contact with a heated plate (38). Air is directed over the heated wick surface by means of a fan (28) thereby to produce a stream of heated humid air. A sensor (62) monitors the temperature of the heated air stream and a control circuit (105, 107) which is responsive to the sensor (62) maintains this temperature substantially constant at a predetermined value. The heated humid air stream is available for inhalation by a patient for the treatment of certain ailments.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to an inhaler device.

[Conventional technology]

It has been proposed to treat common cold-like symptoms by having the patient inhale heated, humidified air. Experiments determined that the air temperature was precisely controlled at about 43° C. and that the relative temperature of the air should be at or near saturation.

A number of devices have been proposed in the past for creating such airflow. Examples of these devices are disclosed in the following patent specifications:

West German Patent No. 102693, 306287.5
01505.556493.62252.123398
1.1148355.193350.2020435.
2160561.2942631,30259361.
3139135; French Patent No. 727129,
783708.914188.2270897.22
76840.2440742 ; British Patent No. 19794
No. 6, 421708.1435520.147571
0.1490974.1448473.1343385
．． 1294808.1242694.1107780.
2010097A, 200238A, U.S. Patent No. 631
No. 575, 742244.865021, 929199
．． 155419.1832916.2040630.2
906463.2151719.2168450.21
74531.2230265.223343], 224
1356.2262711.2283952.2366
753°2387917.2445347.27095
77.3190502.3434471.350600
3.3903883.3990441.4023718
．． 4369777, European Patent No. 0011847, Swiss Patent No. 261779 and Austrian Patent No. 15
No. 0117.

[Summary of the invention]

The object of the present invention is to generate an air flow at a preset temperature and relative humidity level. It is an object of the present invention to provide an inhalation device that is lightweight, relatively simple to manufacture, and highly safe in use.

The present invention includes an air passageway, a water storage container, a heating means, a wick means including a portion extending into the water in the storage container and a portion contacting the heating means for heat exchange; means for directing the air to flow through the passageway and along said portion of the wick, thereby imparting moisture to the air stream and heating the air stream, at a given location downstream of said portion of the wick; first means for sensing the temperature of the air stream, and responsive to the first temperature sensing means for varying the operation of the heating means, thereby maintaining the temperature of the air stream at approximately a preset temperature at a given location; An inhalation device is provided that includes a housing formed by means.

The portion of the wicking means is supported on a first side by a plurality of spaced structures, and the second side of the wicking means is provided with a heater to allow airflow to pass through the first side of the wicking means. in contact with the opposite side of the means.

Besides not adversely affecting the free flow of airflow, the structure comprises a wick support to which a removable and convenient wick device can be attached. These are very convenient.

This arrangement means that the water-saturated wick is heated by direct contact with the heater means and the water vapor released into the air stream is heated.

The air stream is therefore heated simply by drawing hot water vapor from the wick. The relative humidity in the air stream is 10
It becomes 0%. Direct heating of the air stream by a heater should be avoided as the heat is "drying" and lowers the temperature.

In a preferred form of the invention, the water reservoir is located at the lower end of the structure and said portion of the wicking means is located above the water reservoir and below the heater means.

However, with a modification of the invention it is possible to direct the airflow over the top surface of the saturation wick.

According to a preferred variant, substantially all of the heater means are covered with wick means. The heater can then be made even smaller as all the heat is absorbed by the wicking means and isolation requirements are reduced. “Dry heat” into the air stream
The release of is also reduced.

Preferably, the water reservoir is removably attached to the housing. The water reservoir is provided as a sealed unit and contains distilled or demineralized water.

The seal is attached to the housing so that the device comprising the reservoir can be used by a user. In this variant of the invention, the reservoir comprises a container, water in the container, support means above the water, "wick means comprising a portion supported by the support means and a portion of the reservoir extending into the water", and lying on the wick. , preferably includes removable means for sealing the container.

Preferably, the heater means includes a heating element and "means for varying the operation of the heater means, including connection means for controlling the connection between a power source and the heating element in response to the first temperature sensing means."

A second temperature sensing means is used to detect an increase in airflow temperature above the upper limit at a given location.

Depletion of water in the reservoir is detected by third temperature sensing means in contact with the heater means.

When the water supply dries up, the quick dries up and no longer provides a cooling effect to the heating means. As a result, the temperature of the heating means increases and this can be detected by a suitable sensor.

Similarly, the sensor detects if the water tank is not in the right place.
Detects an attempt to activate the device.

The present invention includes the steps of heating at least a portion of a saturated wick, flowing an air stream along the heated wick portion, thereby imparting moisture to the air stream, and heating the air stream, increasing the air stream temperature to the heated wick. It also extends to a method of creating a heated, humidified air flow that includes sensing downstream of the section and controlling heating of the wick section in response to the sensed temperature.

(Embodiments) Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 and 2 show the inhalation device according to the invention ((10)
shows. The device includes a housing (12) and a removable water reservoir (14) connected to the lower end of the housing. The housing (12) consists of four components: a fan cover (16), a front part (18), a rear part (20) and a rear cover (22) with fixing clips (24) projecting therefrom.
have. The front and rear parts (18) and (20) form an electronics part therebetween.

The fan cover (6) has a partially covered air inlet (26) formed therethrough. Motor (3
A fan (28) driven by the fan (28) is mounted inside the housing and forces air through the opening (26) and downwardly through the air passageway in the direction indicated by the arrow (34). The fan operates centrifugally and creates an air flow of approximately 45 liters/minute through the air passage.

There is a heating device (36) mounted below the motor (30) and extending laterally within the housing. this is.

Porcelain heater plate made of 2cm thick alumina (
38) and a heating element (40) having a pattern printed with a resistant ink on its upper surface.

The heating element and connecting terminal (42) project upwardly into the electronics portion inside the housing, as shown in FIG. One of these terminals is
It is connected to fuse (44).

Additionally, the device incorporates a thermal fuse (not shown), which provides security in case a fault condition prevents normal control of the heating element.

This thermal fuse is located within the heater assembly (36) between a heater plate (38) and a ceramic fiber insulating bath (46) having a thickness of 511w11 and placed on top of the heater plate (38). installed between.

This fuse responds to the temperature of heater play 1~,
And in the event of a malfunction, such as if the temperature of the heater were to rise above a predetermined value, the supply to the heater element would be blocked.

The heater plate (38) and the insulation tank (46) are encased in a box (48) molded of a heat-resistant compound forming a waterproof casing for the heating device.

The molding has a protrusion (
50), thereby supporting the heating device in position within the housing.

The heater is also insulated from the air passage sides to reduce the transfer of "dry heat" into the air stream.

A thin aluminum plate (52) is between the heating structure and the electronics part (25). A portion of the plate projects clearly into the air passage (32) from FIG. 1, thereby acting as a relatively upstream heat sink for the air passage heating device.

This reduces unwanted transfer of heat to the lower wall of the electronic part.

The electronics part is on the printed circuit board (56) = 1
1- Contains a transformer (54) installed and operated by the mains supply. The converter provides power for the control circuit shown in FIG.

The main supply is connected to a socket (58) which internally includes an on/off switch (60), a fuse (4
4), and via a heat fuse to the heating element (40) and electrical wires to an electronic circuit mounted on the printed circuit board (56).

Two coated thermistors (62) and (64) extend from the pudding plate (56) to the air passageway (32) adjacent to the rear cover (22) of the device.

The thermistor (62) is said to be the primary limiting thermistor,
This determines, by the electronic circuit of FIG. 4, how much power should be applied to the heater to obtain the desired operating conditions.

The second thermistor (64) is for safety purposes and detects an excessive rise in air temperature in the passageway (32). If the air temperature rises to the permissible limit, a warning buzzer (66) (see Figure 2) is activated. These thermistors are sealed to the printed board (56) by a sealing compound (68).

The air passage at the rear of the device has an outlet (7) which is mostly horizontal.
Ends with 0).

The water tank (14) has a container (72) and a wick (7).
6) with an upper molding (74) serving as a support. The support (74) includes a number of spaced apart upwardly directed protrusions (78) that substantially horizontally support the wick by contacting the lower surface of the wick.

The support (74) includes a centrally downwardly extending protrusion (80), the protrusion being perforated and connected to the central portion of the wick, the protrusion being perforated and connected to the central portion of the wick, thereby , the central portion of this wick extends to the bottom of the container (72).

The water reservoir is intended to be disposable and contains approximately 70 mQ of demineralized or distilled water (82). The wick draws moisture from its water by capillary action. The wick is made of sticky non-woven rayon.

The water reservoir (14) is sealed by a foil cover (84) (dotted line) attached around the lower part of the support (74) and tightly fitted into the wick.

This cover protects the wick before use and prevents water from spilling out of the container.

Remove this cover before joining the water reservoir to the top of the inhalation device. The water in the water tank is sterilized by gamma irradiation.

The wick support (74) has a turn (86) in a position such that when the container is full, leakage is prevented even when the container is tilted 206 from vertical.

When the water reservoir (14) is attached to the housing (12), the seal (88) prevents water from leaking to the outside and also acts as an air seal.

Figure 3 shows the device (10) in use. Power cord(
90) is connected to the socket (58) of the housing.

The leather belt (92) is attached to the fixing clip (
At 24), it is attached to the rear cover of the housing in any suitable manner.

A leather belt is wrapped around the user's neck. Flexible tube (94) exits (70) from air passageway (32)
and terminates in an adapter piece (96). The adapter changes the angle of the airflow by 90'', allowing the airflow to evenly hit the user's nostrils.

The adapter has an elastic string (
100) is clasped to the mask (98) which is secured by the mask (98). An elastic cord (100) is secured to an elongated aluminum strip (102) on the mask.

The actuation of the inhalation device was mounted on a printed board (56) in the electrox part of the haung (12) as previously described. It is under the control of the circuit shown in FIG.

The output from the transformer (54) is connected to the bridge rectifier (104)
and is supplied to the motor (30) and a simple voltage regulation circuit (not shown). The output of the stability adjustment activates the thermistor monitor circuit (105). A switching circuit (107) is used to control the power supply to the heater element (40).

The circuit (105) shows a main thermistor (62), a safety or secondary thermistor (64) and a buzzer (66).

The circuit shows a third thermistor (106) not visible in FIGS. 1 and 2.

This thermistor is a ceramic heater plate (3
8) is a small chip attached to the top surface of the plate that monitors the temperature of this plate. This chip, of course,
electrically isolated from the heating element.

All components shown in the circuit will not be described in detail since the nature of these components and their method of operation are well known to those skilled in the art. However, aspects relating to the circuitry necessary to understand the operation of the inventive inhalation device will be discussed in further detail.

The ballast circuit produces a voltage Vcc, which is Vcc/2
is applied to a reference circuit (108) which is applied to all control circuits.

The thermistor (62) is connected to the main control covertator (1
10). Thermistor (64) and (10
6) are comparators (11, 2) and (1
14) and 16 are uniformly connected. A reference voltage Vcc/2 is supplied to each of comparators (110), (112) and (114).

The reference voltage to the main comparators (1, 10) has a superimposed triangular wave with an amplitude corresponding to a temperature variation of 3°. This provides a proportional band for the control loop and provides optimal transient response to reach operating temperature as quickly as possible.

The heating element (40) is controlled by the "burst fire" method through the triac (1, 16). The triac, and thus the heater, is operated at a rate of 1.Hz and on duty depending on the amount of power required. - Connected with different cycles (energizing period).

The heating element is controlled by a comparator (110) via opto-airolators (118a) and (118b).

As mentioned above, the reference voltage to the comparator (110) is a small amplitude triangular wave centered at the reference voltage Vcc/2. Other inputs to that comparator are thermistor (62) and resistors (120) and (12
2) is the voltage strayed from the voltage divider formed by . The resistor (120) is variable and set to provide the desired controlled temperature at which the air is heated.

As the temperature of the thermistor (62) increases, the positive input voltage to the comparator (110) increases. Thus, the duty cycle of the heating element, controlled by the output voltage of the comparator, changes. Since this system is a feedback loop, the circuit consists of approximately 60
The temperature is precisely controlled in this way, operating to maintain the thermistor at the resistance required for the % duty cycle.

A small amount of hysteresis is provided to the comparator (1,1,O) to ensure clean switching of the comparator.

The heating element (40) is protected by the heat fuse (44) already mentioned. This fuse opens the circuit if the heater temperature rises too high. If the water reservoir (14) runs dry, another protection measure for the heater is provided by a thermistor (106) fixed to the heater.

This thermistor controls a comparator (114), and when the temperature sensed by this thermistor rises above 140°C, the cobalator controls the opto-isolator (114).
8), turn off the triac and turn off the OR gate (124
) to turn on the buzzer (66).

The comparator (114) has a large amount of hysteresis so the heater must cool considerably before it can be turned on again.

The thermistor (64) is for detecting an excessive rise in air temperature. If the air temperature in the passageway (32) reaches 46°C, then the comparator (112) will switch and the buzzer will sound again.

It must be mentioned that the triangular wave fed to the reference input to the comparator (112) is created by an oscillator (126) functioning at IHz.

This oscillator is also used to gate the buzzer (66) via the OR gate (128).

The triac (116) is a transistor circuit (130)
) is driven by. The main supply line is connected to a series of terminals (132) and (1,34) with heaters and triacs.

The driving device (130) includes a transistor (136) (1
38) (1,40) Including (142). The collector currents of transistors (136) and (138) only go to zero at the zero crossing of the supply voltage.

Transistors (140) and (142) then drive the triac. The triac has zero-crossing triggering to keep radio interference to a minimum.

As previously mentioned, the on/off switching of the triac begins via the opto-isolator (118).

This increases the inherent safety of the circuit.

The final feature of the circuit shown in Figure 4 is that the motor (30
) is controlled by a series resistor (144).
It must be pointed out that 28) can be adjusted to create the correct speed of airflow.

As previously indicated, the inhalation device of the present invention is intended to produce an airflow of approximately 45 Q/mm of heated humidified air. The relative temperature of the air must be above 70% and the air temperature must be precisely regulated to about 43°C. The device operates as follows.

The air is supplied by a fan (2) rotated by a motor (30).
8) into the passageway (32). Air is directed downwardly through passageway (32) and passes under the underside of wick (76) between spaced apart protrusions (78).

The air then travels up and down past thermistors (62) and (64) and leaves the housing via air tube (94). The air is then forced into the user's nostrils where it is inhaled.

The wick (76) is in intimate contact with the heater plate (38) due to the physical connection of the housing and the reservoir.

The wick is constantly saturated with water drawn up by capillary action from the reservoir. When the wick is heated, it is through this air that water vapor is released into the space between the wick support plate (74) and the wick.

There, the air stream carries heated water vapor and is heated by simultaneous contact with the heater plate (38). The arrangement is such that the relative temperature of the airflow is significantly greater than 70%.

Air temperature is monitored by the main thermistor (62) before exiting the housing (12).

The control function provided by the circuit corresponding to the temperature sensed by the thermistor (62) is not a simple on-off operation corresponding to the air temperature above or below the set point.

This does not provide the necessary accuracy and stability and therefore requires proportional control techniques.

This operation is as follows.

Around the desired temperature, for example 43° C., there is a small temperature band called the proportional band. If the air temperature is in the center of this band, the controller can cause half of the total power to flow by passing half of the main AC cycle at regular intervals. The proportion of total power applied to the heater varies linearly with air temperature over the proportional band so that the air temperature varies from zero at the top of the temperature band to 100% at the bottom. do.

In this way the heating element is controlled in order to maintain the air temperature at the outlet at 43°C ± 0.5°C.

However, the temperature band is not centered around 43° C. for the following reason.

(a) The desired air temperature is achieved when approximately three-fourths of the total power is applied.

(b) The desired temperature is 43° C. measured at the outlet and there is a slight temperature drop in the air as it passes along the tube (94) to the mask (96).

If the air temperature rises to 46℃ for the above functions,
This is sensed by a second or safety thermistor and a buzzer (66) sounds as a warning to the user.

If the water (84) in the reservoir (40) dries up,
The heater plate temperature increases. This is because it is no longer exposed to the cooling effect of a wet wick. A thermistor (106) monitors the temperature of the heater plate.

-Za - If this rises above 140°C, indicating insufficient water supply, the buzzer (66) will sound and the triac (
116) is turned off in the same way as the difference in level.

The same operation occurs when the device is switched on when the reservoir is not coupled to the housing.

Intimate contact between the saturated wick portion and the heater plate increases the humidity level of the airflow and at the same time is a very efficient way to heat the airflow.

The air stream must not be heated directly by the heater plate as this heat is dry and reduces the temperature.

The wick provides a large surface area for airflow and has a relatively small depth of space for airflow. The air stream is therefore almost uniformly heated and entrains moisture.

The circuit shown in Figure 4 thus provides a control function that ensures that the temperature remains constant at the desired level, and also provides a control function to ensure that the water supply is insufficient or when the heater temperature becomes excessively high. It has a monitoring function that notifies you of this.

The device is shown in FIG. 3 as producing air for inhalation through the user's nose.

Obviously, this device can be modified to use a mouthpiece for oral inhalation.

The device of the invention is light, easy to manufacture and use, and while simultaneously producing air of predetermined characteristics.
Very safe.

Various modifications may be made to the apparatus without departing from the scope of this specification. For example, the heating element can be comprised of a metal sheath element with a heater core interleaved with mica. It is equipped with a socket (58) and can replace the usual sheathed main couple. Exit from the air passage (
70) may be in any other suitable orientation, for example at right angles, provided that it provides a suitable connection to the tube (94).

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 is a side sectional view of an inhalation device according to the invention, and FIG. 2 is a view from the rear of the interior of the device shown in FIG. 1, also showing a cross-section of the water reservoir removed from the upper part of the device. FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram for controlling the operation of the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2; FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram for controlling the operation of the devices of FIGS. 1 and 2. (10) Inhaler (12) Housing (14
) Water tank (16) Fan cover (18) Front part (20) Rear part (24) Fixing clip (25) Electronics part (26) Opening (28) Fan (30) Motor (34) Arrow (36) Heating Bag M
'(38) Heater plate (40) Heating element
(42) Terminal (44) Phase
(46) Insulating layer (48) Box (50)
Protrusion (54) Transformer (56) Printed circuit board (58) Socket (60) Switch (62)
Thermistor (64) Thermistor (68) Sealing compound (70) Outlet (72) Container (74) Support/molding (78) Protrusion (80) Protrusion (82) Distilled water (84) Foil cover (86) Bent ( 88) Seal (90) Power sheet
(92) Leather belt (94) Flexible tube (96) Adapter part (98) Mask (1oo)
Elastic string (102) Aluminum elongated suspension (104) Bridge rectifier (106) Third thermistor (107) Switching circuit (IOA) Reference circuit (110) Main control comparator (112) Comparator (114) Comparator (116) Triac (118a) (118a) Opto-isolator (12
0') Resistor (1・22) Resistor (124)
OR game) - (126) Oscillator (128) OR gate (130) Transistor circuit (132)
Terminal (+34) Terminal (136)
Transistor (138) Transistor (142
) Transistor Patent Applicant Patent Attorney So Takezawa -＼ -・7 ・7 Shiichimeichi 28= Fun IG-i

Claims (9)

[Claims] (1) An inhalation device including a housing (12) formed by an air passage (32), a water reservoir (14), and a heater means (36), the portion extending into the water of the reservoir and the heater means (36). wicking means (76) comprising a portion in heat exchange contact with a portion of the wicking means (76), the airflow passing through the air passageway (32) and along said portion of the wicking means, thereby moistening the airflow and heating the airflow; means (28) for sensing the temperature of the air stream at a location downstream of said portion of the wicking means (62); and heater means (3).
6) to maintain the air temperature at a given location at approximately a predetermined temperature by varying the operation of
An inhalation device characterized in that it has means (116) responsive to temperature sensing means (62). (2) a first side of the portion of the wicking means is supported on a plurality of spaced apart structures (78) and a second side is in contact with an opposite surface of the heater means (36), and the air flow is directed to the wicking means; An inhalation device according to claim 1, characterized in that the flow is adapted to flow along a first side of the portion of the inhaler. (3) A water reservoir (14) is located at the lower end of the housing (12), and said portion of the wick means is located above the water reservoir and below the heater means. ) or (2). (4) An inhalation device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the water reservoir (14) is removably coupled to the housing. (5) the heater means (36) includes a heating element (40), and the means for varying the operation of the heater means controls the connection of the heating element (40) to a power source in response to the first temperature sensing means; The inhaler according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it includes an opening/closing means (116) for opening and closing the device. (6) Claims (1) to (5) include second temperature sensing means (64) for detecting an increase in the temperature of the airflow above an upper limit at a predetermined location. ) The inhalation device described in any of the above. (7) third temperature sensing means (1) in contact with the heater means (36) for detecting when the water in the water tank is depleted;
Claim No. 06)
The inhaler according to any one of items 6 to 6. (8) comprising a housing (12) formed by an air passageway (32), a water reservoir (14) and heater means (36), the portion extending into the water of the reservoir and the heater means (36);
) and a heat exchange contact portion (76).
, directing the air flow through an air passage (
32) thereby hydrating the air stream;
and means (28) for heating the air stream, first means (62) for sensing the temperature of the air stream at a predetermined location downstream of the portion of the wicking means, and heater means (36).
a water reservoir for use in an inhalation device having means (116) responsive to the first temperature sensing means (62) for altering the operation of the air stream, thereby maintaining the airflow temperature at a predetermined location at approximately a predetermined temperature; In the tank, the container (72)
, water in the container (82), support means above the water (74)
, a wicking means (76) comprising a portion supported by the support means (74) and a portion extending into the water in the reservoir;
and a removable means (84) for covering the wick means and for sealing the container. (9) A method of creating a heated, humidified air flow, the method comprising heating at least a portion of a saturated wick and passing the air flow along a portion of the heated wick to impart moisture to the air flow. A heated humidified air flow for an inhalation device comprising the steps of heating, sensing the temperature of the air flow downstream of the heating wick portion, and controlling the heating of the wick portion in accordance with the sensed temperature. How to make it.